Man Shot by LAPD in Los Feliz ID'd; Cops Say He Was "Aggressive"

A man shot by Los Angeles police officers over the weekend is Walter De Leon, roughly 48 years old, sources who know who he is told L.A. Weekly.

Police say the man shot by Los Angeles Police Department Security Services Division officers about 6:30 p.m. Friday in front of neighbors and motorists was still in critical condition today.

The confrontation happened after those cops, in a patrol vehicle at Los Feliz Boulevard near Tica Drive, "observed a male on the sidewalk walking toward them in an aggressive manner and pointing at them with his hands wrapped in a gray cloth," according to an LAPD statement.

The officers got out of the car, which had been stuck in traffic, and demanded he "drop the gun," police stated. He "refused to comply," and one or both cops opened fire, the department said.

His behavior, including witness reports that his wrapped arm was up and outward as he faced police, is yet to be explained.

Much has been made of subsequent video of the man, shot in the head and bleeding profusely, being turned over on his back and handcuffed by officers. But that's standard procedure when cops think they're dealing with an armed suspect.

The department's Force Investigation Division and the District Attorney's Office will investigate.

L.A. Weekly staff writer Dennis Romero has worked on staff at several magazines and newspapers, including the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Los Angeles Times, where he participated in Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage of the L.A. riots. His work has appeared in Rolling Stone online, the Guardian, and, as a young stringer, the New York Times.